Floyd Rose® developed a floating double locking tremolo system in the mid 1980's and late 1970's which became widely accepted. Many companies sell tremolo systems also referred to, as vibrato systems which date back to the 1950's. The tremolo system in U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,236 to Rose, 1985 Feb. 5 and a locking nut U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,661 to Rose, 1979 Oct. 23 having two two points for locking the strings. The first is in the saddles supported by the tremolo base plate and second at the nut. This will minimize the strings from going out of tune caused by the binding of strings in the nut and tremolo system when using the tremolo by those skilled in the art
Springs are connected to the back of a guitar body and a block mounted to the bottom side of a tremolo base plate. The springs counteract the tension of guitar strings. The elevation level of a tremolo system base plate is adjusted, so it does not rest on a guitar body and pivoting allowing movement up and down, this is known as floating creating a recognizable vibrato effect.
A tremolo system when in the floating position and a string breaks, necessarily reduces the tension of the rest of the strings by the spring tension at the back of a guitar altering the elevation level of a tremolo base plate, thereby pulling all of the remaining strings out of tune. This is a disadvantage rendering a guitar basically unplayable. In order to overcome this disadvantage, many guitar players utilize a block of wood or other tremolo lock and stop mechanisms, particularly those located at the back of a guitar to temporarily or permanently fix the position of a tremolo. Their location is difficult to access and operate, often preventing a floating tremolo system from operating as designed and unable to return the strings back to the preset pitch tuning when a string breaks while a tremolo system is floating.